Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Prime Minister Mark Carney at the G7 summit on Tuesday. Canada’s intelligence agency warns in a new report that the country remains a source of foreign interference. PHOTO: THE CANADIAN PRESS
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan on Thursday expressed concern over a long-term uranium supply agreement and nuclear cooperation arrangement concluded between India and Canada during the recent visit of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to New Delhi, warning that such country-specific arrangements risk undermining the global nuclear non-proliferation framework and destabilising the strategic balance in South Asia.
The agreement, which includes long-term uranium supply and cooperation on advanced nuclear technologies, was announced after talks between Carney and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the two sides moved to reset ties and expand economic cooperation.
The deal is part of a broader push to strengthen bilateral trade and energy cooperation, including collaboration on small modular reactors and advanced nuclear technologies.
The uranium supply arrangement, reportedly worth about $2.6 billion, will allow Canadian companies to provide nuclear fuel to support India’s civilian nuclear energy programme as New Delhi expands its nuclear power capacity.
Reacting to the development, the Foreign Office said the arrangement represented another exception in the field of civil nuclear cooperation granted to India despite longstanding concerns about its nuclear programme.
“Pakistan has noted with concern the long-term uranium supply agreement concluded between Canada and India and potential cooperation on small modular reactors and advanced reactor technologies between the two sides,” said Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi in a statement.
“This arrangement represents yet another country-specific exception in the field of civil nuclear cooperation. It is particularly ironic given that India’s 1974 nuclear test, conducted using plutonium produced in a reactor supplied by Canada for peaceful purposes, had led directly to the establishment of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG),” he added.
The spokesperson said a state whose actions necessitated the establishment of global export controls is now being granted preferential access under selective arrangements.
“India has neither placed all its civilian nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards nor undertaken any binding commitment to do so under this arrangement. Several facilities remain outside international inspection. It is also unclear what concrete non-proliferation assurances, if any, accompany this agreement.”
Andrabi further said the strategic consequences were equally troubling.
“Assured external uranium supplies effectively release India’s domestic reserves for military use, enabling the expansion of its fissile material stockpiles, accelerating the growth of its nuclear arsenal, and deepening existing asymmetries in South Asia’s strategic balance.”
“In this context, the arrangement also undermines Canada’s commitment to the international non-proliferation regime and its corresponding obligations under that framework,” according to the spokesperson.
Pakistan reiterated that civil nuclear cooperation must be governed by a non-discriminatory, criteria-based approach applicable equally to states that are not parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
“Selective exceptions diminish the credibility of the global non-proliferation framework and risk further destabilizing regional and global peace & security.”
Separately, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar held a telephone conversation with Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand, during which the two sides discussed bilateral relations and ways to further enhance economic cooperation.
Although official read out would not say, the issue of Canada-India nuclear deal did come up during the telephonic conversation.
According to the Foreign Office, the two leaders explored avenues for expanding cooperation across multiple sectors, including agriculture, clean energy and critical minerals, while also emphasising the importance of strengthening people-to-people ties between Pakistan and Canada. Anand also appreciated the contribution of the Pakistani diaspora in Canada.
“Both sides emphasized the importance of sustained high-level exchanges to maintain the positive trajectory in bilateral engagement,” the statement said.
The two foreign ministers also exchanged views on evolving regional developments, with Dar stressing the importance of dialogue, diplomacy and adherence to international law to promote de-escalation and stability in the Middle East and the wider region.
Pakistan has long opposed selective nuclear cooperation arrangements with India, arguing that civil nuclear collaboration should be based on a uniform, criteria-based framework applicable to all states outside the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and consistent with the principles of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
